Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower Review

Synopsis:
Eight months after the events of Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky, the brutal One Year War has officially concluded, though pockets of fighting still continue. The South Seas Alliance, a radical new religious cult with a chilling secret, prepares to declare itself an independent nation from the Earth Federation. Meanwhile, both Daryl Lorenz and Io Fleming continue to serve their factions and are once again thrust into battle. 

Based on the manga of the same name, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt was originally released as eight Original Net Animation (ONA) episodes, the first four of which were later compiled (with new footage) into the Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky film, while the second four were compiled into Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower. As of this writing, the remainder of the manga has yet to be adapted to animated form, so the anime remains unfinished. 

Note - this review is just for the Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower film (the second four ONA's). Please click here for my review of Mobile Suit Gundam: December Sky, the first entry in this series. 

Release Date:
2017 (ONA's)
2017 (Film)

Episodes: 
4 (ONA's)
1 (Film)

Timeline:
UC 0080

My Grade:
B

Review:
While Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky stands as a reasonably self-contained entry (despite its open ending), this sequel feels definitively like the middle of a larger story (which it is) - it serves as the Two Towers to the original's Fellowship of the Ring. This is not necessarily a bad thing. What works against Bandit Flower, however, is that it feels more like a loose collection of sequences without a particularly strong plot holding everything together. Writing this now, only about a month after viewing, I can remember some individual scenes but not how any of them tied together. The result, especially coming off of the near-perfect Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky, is a bit disappointing. 

The animation remains as strong as the previous entry, and given the extraordinary quality, that alone is worth the price of admission. The sequence involving Daryl's Acqguy squadron infiltrating a South Seas Alliance base is especially breathtaking, as is the staging of the action itself. Io pilots the new Atlas Gundam, which is a cool design, but not as striking as the amazing Full Armor Gundam from the previous installment. 

The new storyline with the South Seas Alliance and its psychic cult leader feels a little over-the-top compared to the previous film. That said, having not read the manga, I'll need to wait and see how the story pans out to make a full judgement. We were also put off by the reintroduction of several plot threads and characters which seemed to have ended in dramatic fashion in the first film. There had been numerous "I can't believe that just happened" elements which were lost with these new revelations. 

The most entertaining new addition to the cast is Bianca Carlyle, a heavily tattooed redheaded pilot who works alongside Io. The two immediately hit it off when they discover each other's mutual love of jazz, and there's a great scene in which they perform an extremely challenging free-form jazz tune together called Groovy Duel (Io on drums and Bianca on keyboard). In my previous review I talked about how the best Gundam stories are character-driven, and Bianca certainly exemplifies this. 

Ultimately, while Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower is an extremely competent film (or series of ONA's if you're watching that version), its status as the middle entry in an unfinished animated story hurts its watch-ability a lot. Many of its new plot elements may feel better or worse depending on the final payoff. If and when the last entry in this series is produced, Bandit Flower will absolutely require a re-viewing and maybe it will hold up better then.